


Open

by LB714



Category: Terra Nova (TV)
Genre: F/M, I Love You, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LB714/pseuds/LB714
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Josh Shannon is taken by surprise when Skye says the L word. He must find a way to let go of his past, and the girl he lost, so he can move forward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Open

**Author's Note:**

> These characters do not belong to me. I have merely borrowed them and will return them unharmed.

Carrying a tray full of empty bottles and cups, Josh returned to the bar and set the tray down on the smooth wood surface. The crowd was thinning; for the past few nights Tom Boylan had had a handful of customers. Skye was seated at the bar nursing some home-brewed ale. She and Boylan had a nice arrangement as supplier and merchant, but lately business had been slow.

“I can’t put my finger on it, my young friend,” the owner said to Josh in his thick Australian accent while drying off a glass and setting it on a shelf overhead. “Business used to be so much better before . . .”

“Before the Phoenix group tore up the place?” Josh finished for him.

“Yeah. I don’t know what they’re afraid of,” Boylan replied, gesturing with his head at the few remaining customers, representatives of the remaining population of Terra Nova.

Josh shrugged. “Maybe they just need a reason to come back.”

“What kind of reason?” Boylan asked, leaning on the bar, now curious. Even Skye turned toward Josh.

He shrugged, glancing from one to the other. “I don’t know. What do you people do for entertainment around here?” He’d been in Terra Nova six months, and the only entertainment he’d seen was the harvest festival.

“Entertainment?” Puzzled, Boylan looked at Skye and thought about it. She, too, shrugged.

“What if you brought in some music?” Josh continued. “Like a band or something.”

“Hmm. Well, Jack Fletcher plays the bongos.”

“You’re gonna have to do better than that to bring in a crowd.”

“How about a bunch of acts?” asked Skye.

Josh nodded. “Hey, how about an open mike?”

Again confused, Boylan cocked his head.

“You know, where anyone with some kind of talent can get up there and perform. He gestured to an imaginary stage. It’d give the colony something to do, and you’d fill this place up.”

“With paying customers?”

“That’s the idea.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Skye, lifting her glass to Josh and taking a sip.

“Tell you what, my young friends,” said Boylan. “You set it up, and you can have your open mike night.”

Grinning, Skye looked at Josh and nodded. “I’ll make some flyers and help you put them up all over the market.” They decided that the event would take place one week from that night, to give everyone who wanted to participate time to come up with an act.

The next day, Josh and Skye got right to work, printing up flyers and posting them everywhere.

 

* * *

 

 

Jim Shannon wandered into the clinic carrying one of the flyers and held it up to his wife. “Your son’s idea,” he said with a grin.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Elisabeth, taking the flyer and reading it over. “It’s just what this place needs after everything that’s happened. And just what Josh needs. He’s been so . . . sullen.”

With a sigh, Jim leaned his back against the table Liz was working at and folded his arms. “I can’t say I blame him. He loved Kara.”

“I know,” Elisabeth said sadly, putting down the test tube she’d been shaking. “I hate seeing him like this.”

“He’ll move on. He just needs time.”

“He’s been spending a lot of time with Skye,” said Elisabeth mischievously, flashing her husband a smile. “Have you noticed that?”

“Yeah. Strangely I think she’s a good influence, the whole sneaking out and stealing thing notwithstanding.”

“Reminds me of someone I know.” She nudged Jim playfully, and he kissed her head.

Just then, Malcolm entered, holding one of Skye’s flyers. “Did you know I used to be in a band when I was at university . . .”

 

* * *

 

“Your hair’s getting long,” observed Skye, reaching up to touch it. She and Josh were on their way to her place after working in the forest all day. Josh was glad for the physical labor. It kept his mind off the events of the past month, and more important, off Kara’s death. As the days since the rebellion wore on, he had gone through all the stages of grief and was now left with the vestiges of his guilt.

Josh brought a hand to the back of his head. Skye was right. After all this time in Terra Nova he was fighting to keep the bangs off his face. Even Maddy had been threatening to braid his hair.

“C’mon, I’ll cut it for you,” Skye said moving in front of him and taking his hands, leading him onward.

Josh dragged his feet playfully, but then said, “Okay.” His mother would be pleased; she’d wanted to cut his hair for days.

When they arrived at the empty house—Hunter, Max, and Tasha were still off on their work assignments—Skye set up a chair in the backyard and went back inside for supplies. Josh took a seat, gazing around at the garden that was now coming back to life after the destruction caused by the Phoenix Group.

When Skye returned she was carrying a pot of warm water with a towel draped over one arm and a pair of scissors stuck in the waistband of her shorts. Always efficient and practical, thought Josh. If anyone belonged in Terra Nova, it was Skye. There was seemingly nothing she couldn’t do.

Skye put the pot of water on the ground and draped the towel around Josh’s shoulders, noting with a smile that the months of manual labor were really paying off. She could feel tight muscles under the thin fabric of his sweaty T-shirt.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Josh asked, as Skye moved behind him with the water.

“Trust me. Lean your head back,” she ordered, supporting it with one hand and gently pouring the water onto his dark brown locks with the other.

It felt good, he had to admit. He closed his eyes and took in the sensation of the warm water running through his hair.

When his hair was good and wet, Skye put the pot back on the ground and patted the excess water from Josh’s hair with the towel. Then she draped it around his shoulders again and ran her fingers through his long tresses.

She cut in silence, and Josh watched as inches of his hair fell to the ground. He liked this, he realized, being here with Skye, doing something so . . . domestic. So normal. Nothing that involved running from dinosaurs or defending themselves against Sixers. Just two people spending time together.

Finally Skye moved in front of Josh, tousled his much shorter hair with one hand, and appraised him.

“Well?” he asked nervously.

“I like it. You look good. Really good.” She moved closer, straddling his legs, and he pulled her onto his lap.

“Yeah?” he said, nuzzling her face and then kissing her.

“Yeah,” she whispered, kissing him back. They sat this way for a while, two young people sharing a quiet moment, growing more intimate with each kiss, each touch.

After a few minutes, Skye pulled back, breathing hard. “I love you,” she whispered.

Josh’s eyes flew open and he was stunned, and at that moment Skye leaped up and busied herself with the things she had brought outside. “Um, I’m just gonna put these inside and get cleaned up . . .” Before Josh could respond, she disappeared inside the house.

Josh sat for a moment playing over in his mind the event that had just happened. Skye loved him. He loved Skye. So why couldn’t he say it?

 

* * *

 

 

Josh left shortly after and, slightly dazed, wandered back to his house. He was quiet during dinner, letting Maddy dominate the conversation so he could be alone with his thoughts. Once or twice he caught his mother staring at him and then exchanging a look with his father. But neither parent called him out, so he managed to escape to his room.

For the next few days Josh and Skye made polite chit-chat, but neither one brought up what they each thought of as the “haircut incident.” It gnawed at Josh. He’d been holding on to his feelings for Kara for so long that he didn’t realize until now that his relationship with Skye had taken a turn, a turn, he realized, that he was ready to explore.

The only thing stopping him from moving forward was letting go of the past. Or the future, when he thought about it. Maddy would have something profound to say about his past existing in the future, but he preferred not to mention it to her.

It was time, he decided, to put some closure to that part of his life. He was in Terra Nova now. A place for beginnings. But in order to take that step there was something he had to do first.

Josh opened the top drawer of his dresser and removed a folded scrap of cloth, which he carried over to his bed. Slowly, he peeled back the corners of the cloth to reveal a black pendant with a white design attached to a leather strap. The necklace Kara had given him, which he had worn until the day she died.

 

* * *

 

 

It was early afternoon when Josh found his father leaving the control tower. He jogged to catch up to him. “Dad?”

Jim turned and waited for his son. “Hey, can you pick up Zoe after school? Your mother’s going to be tied up at the clinic today.” He started walking again, Josh meeting his stride.

“Can Maddy do it? I need to ask a favor.”

Jim stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. Josh asking for a favor usually meant trouble in some form.

“I need to go OTG—just for an hour or so.”

“No way.” Jim didn’t even hesitate. “No civilians outside the gate without a work detail or a really good reason. You know the rules. Right now, it’s just too dangerous, with the Sixers out there and the Phoenix Group . . .”

“I know that, Dad, but it’s important,” Josh said impatiently. He was hoping his father would take him at his word and not pry further, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to get off that easy, not with all that had happened recently.

“What could be so important that you’re asking me to break the rules for you?”

Again, the rules. Always the rules with his father, considering the number of rules the man had broken in _his_ lifetime. Josh lowered his head. How many times was he going to have to prove to his father that he was old enough now, that he’d gotten into trouble enough and learned his lessons?

“I need to go out to Memorial Field,” he said quietly.

Jim didn’t even have to ask why Josh wanted to visit the makeshift graveyard. “Kara,” he said simply, his demeanor softening.

It hurt to even hear the name. Josh’s jaw clenched, and he said, “Please.” Then he turned his eyes up toward his father’s face. Even Jim couldn’t bear to see the pain in those vivid blue eyes.

With a heavy sigh he glanced around. “Okay. But I’m taking you there myself.” When Josh started to protest, Jim held up his hand. “You’re not going OTG alone.”

Josh nodded. If it meant doing what he needed to do, he would concede.

Jim secured a rover and they rode east in silence until they came to an open field peppered with stone markers. One very large rock stood at the entrance and was carved with the names of fallen citizens whose bodies were lost or destroyed in the recent battle with the Phoenix Group.

Jim parked the rover by the rock and got out, with Josh following. “Dad, can you wait here?” he asked, coming to a stop by the entrance.

Jim turned and nodded. “Sure. Take your time.” He leaned against the rover and watched his son walk slowly through the rows of markers until he came to a stop by a circle of wild flowers.

Josh took a seat, cross-legged, on the ground. “I’m sorry I haven’t been up here to see you,” he said after a few minutes. He was silent then, thinking of the many excuses he could make. Tears welled in his eyes as he finally spoke again. “I’m so sorry, Kara. I’m so sorry I brought you here.” He swiped at his eyes with his sleeve, and for a few minutes he just sat there, letting the tears fall.

Finally, with sigh, he pulled from his shirt pocket the necklace. He rubbed the smooth stone between his fingers, and with a kiss, laid it on the stone marking Kara’s grave. “I’ll always love you,” he whispered. Then he stood and turned, knowing this would be the last time he’d come here.

 

* * *

 

 

“Dad, can I ask you something?” Josh asked, as he continued wiping the clean glasses on the bar and putting them away. He was working the night shift, and Jim had come in for a drink before heading home.

Jim could tell from his son’s tone that this was something serious and that it was probably something he wasn’t comfortable talking about. After he had taken Josh to Memorial Field, the boy remained quiet. Jim shifted in his seat and leaned in, showing Josh he was giving him his full attention. “What’s on your mind?”

Josh flashed his eyes at his father and then looked back down at the glass he was holding. He mumbled, “When did you . . . when did you realize you were in love with mom?”

A grin replaced Jim’s stoic expression. He couldn’t help himself. This was too precious. He wasn’t going to ruin the moment with a snappy retort, though, but right now he just wanted to hug the boy. He could see from his Josh’s flushed face how hard it must have been for him to ask, so he wasn’t going to torture him any longer. “The minute I laid eyes on her,” he said simply and took a sip of his drink.

A small smile flickered on Josh’s lips, relieved that his father was not going to mock him, and he continued. “When did you tell her?”

Jim leaned back. “Well, probably around our third date. And I just told her, flat-out.”

Now Josh put the glass away and looked pointedly at his father. “How did she take it?”

“She already knew. Smart woman, your mother is.” He tipped his glass toward his head.

Josh laughed. “Yeah, she is.” Then he grew quiet again.

Jim tilted his head and locked eyes with Josh. “Just tell her.”

Josh looked down at the bar and nodded. Just tell her. Easier said . . .

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, Skye, wait up,” Josh called after her, jogging to catch up. It was two days before the big talent night at Boylan’s.

Skye, seeing it was Josh, ran a hand through her hair and hurried on. “I’m late for work. Outpost Three.”

“Well, I’ll walk you to the gate.” He had caught up and was trying to make eye contact, but Skye wasn’t making it easy.

“I really have to go,” she said, taking a detour through the maintenance station and leaving Josh in her wake.

Josh stared after her and threw up his hands. She wasn’t making this easy, and he knew he would have to work harder if he was going to tell Skye what he’d been feeling for a while now.

 

* * *

 

 

Back at Boylan’s there was a buzz in the air. People were talking about the upcoming open mike, and a number of the colonists had already signed up. When Josh perused the list, he was relieved to see that neither of his parents was on it. He’d already suffered enough embarrassment recently.

“If this plan of yours works, my boy,” Boylan said, coming up behind Josh and clapping him on the shoulder as he, too, looked over the list, “this place will be back in business.”

Josh half-smiled and nodded. “That’s great,” he said,

Boylan turned Josh so that were facing each other. “Why so morose, lad? Things are looking up!” To confirm this, the older man pulled two glasses from a shelf and poured drinks for himself and his young friend. He holds up his cup and says, “Drink up!”

Josh stared at his drink.

“It’s a bloody girl, isn’t it?” Boylan asked, after a minute of silence. “It’s Skye. You and Skye . . .”

“Shhhhh!” Josh said frantically, waving his hands and glancing around to make sure no one heard. It was pointless, since everyone in the colony knew they were a couple.

Boylan chuckled. “Lover’s spat already?” He took a long pull of the strong ale. “My first wife, she fought about everything. The way I left my socks on the chair. The way I dried the dishes. The way I . . . well, never mind about that.”

Josh raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

“The point is,” continued his boss, “women like a show, you know what I mean? They like to hear that you’re sorry, they like flowers and romance and all that.”

“A show?” Josh straightened. He looked around the bar. “A show . . .” He put down his glass and moved around the bar, heading toward the entrance.

“Josh,” Boylan called out, confused. “What did I say?”

“Thanks, Boylan! That was a big help.” He took the stairs two at a time. He had work to do. He only had one night.

 

* * *

 

 

“Josh, it’s your turn to set the table,” Maddy said from her seat at the kitchen counter, her plex in hand.

“Not now, Maddy.” Josh hurried past the kitchen and into his room.

“Josh!”

But he had already shut the door and reached for his guitar. If he was going to be ready by tomorrow night, he had a lot of work to do.

 

* * *

 

 

The morning of the open mike, Josh headed over to Skye’s place. For a moment, he paced in front of the door, then finally knocked, hoping that the others were gone. Luck was on his side today; when the door opened, Skye stood before him, looking uneasy at his presence.

“Hey,” he said, his nerve crumbling.

“Hey,” she replied. “Look, I have to be at work, so . . .”

Josh held up a hand. “I just wanted to make sure you were coming tonight.”

Skye looked up and made a face. “Yeah, I don’t know.”

“Come. Please.”

“I really have to go,” she said, shutting the door behind her and moving past him.

Josh called after her. “So that’s a yes?” Skye shrugged and continued walking. “That’s a yes,” he said.

 

* * *

 

 

When she came to Terra Nova on the fifth pilgrimage, Skye envisioned a magical world straight out of a fairy tale, but she never dreamed she’d meet a handsome prince who would sweep her off her feet. That changed the day Josh Shannon arrived, green as a baby brachiosaurus but full of spirit.

Skye was torn. If she kept avoiding Josh things would only get worse, but every time she saw him, she felt a pang in her chest. She should never have told him she loved him. He still wasn’t over Kara. Maybe he never would be.

 

* * *

 

 

Boylan’s was standing room only that night. Jim had secured a table near the makeshift stage. His wife, Zoe, Maddy, and Mark Reynolds, Maddy’s boyfriend, were seated with him. Maddy was the first to spot Skye at the foot of the stairs, glancing around, looking for a seat.

“Skye!” she called out. “Over here.”

Skye flashed a shy smile and worked her way through the crowd to the empty chair Maddy had her foot on, to keep it from being swiped.

“Thanks,” said Skye, sitting quickly and accepting the drink that Boylan placed in front of her before moving on to the next table.

“I can’t believe how crowded this place is,” she remarked.

“Boylan owes you one,” said Jim. “And Josh.”

At this Skye blushed. She still wasn’t sure she should be here, and when she looked over at the bar and caught Josh’s eye, she smiled half-heartedly and then looked away.

Josh worked the bar as the acts performed. Casey Durwin told jokes, with everyone laughing along. The Marcos children sang a song. Hunter and Max did magic tricks that were surprisingly good. Then Boylan took the stage and addressed the crowd.

“Our next act is someone you all know. It was his idea to put this little shindig together. Drinks on the house for my boy Josh. Come on up here, lad, and show ’em what you got.”

Aware that all eyes were on him, Josh grabbed his guitar from behind the bar and jogged to the stage amid the applause and one or two shouts and whistles from his family. This was different from performing with his high school band. This was a completely different audience, and he was about to sing alone on the stage a song that he had just written the night before.

As the crowd quieted, Josh took a seat in the chair that Boylan had placed for him in the center of the stage. Elisabeth squeezed Jim’s arm and tried not to say anything to embarrass her son, but seeing him up there reminded her of the days back in Chicago, when Jim was in prison and Josh tried so hard to take care of the family, and his only release was his band. She was so proud of him now, and he looked so happy. Jim looked at his wife and smiled. They didn’t need words to know what the other was thinking. He felt it, too.

Skye sat up. She couldn’t help smiling. She knew the day she gave Josh the money to buy the guitar that it would change things for him, give him a piece of home that he missed. He wasn’t happy when he arrived at Terra Nova, but now, up there on the stage, he seemed at peace.

Josh took a moment to tune his guitar, then adjusted the mike and spoke into it. “Hi,” he said shyly. “I wrote this song for someone special.” He looked at Skye and began to strum the guitar. Then he sang. The room grew quiet, and by the time he got to the chorus, Skye was fighting tears. She wasn’t going to let anyone see her cry, though, as much as the emotion filled her. Josh was singing what he couldn’t say the other day, and it was such a brave thing to do that it nearly broke her heart. He’d shown her joy and anger and even a little of his pain, but he’d never opened up like this before, not so publicly. She knew how hard it must have been for him, so when the song was over and the room erupted into applause, she dashed from the table, up the stairs, and out into the night.

Stunned for a moment at the positive reception, Josh smiled awkwardly, hurried from the stage, and handed his guitar to his father before racing after Skye.

Jim watched his son fly up the stairs until his wife’s voice brought him back. “What just happened?” He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, “Your son is in love,” and then kissed her on the cheek.

Malcolm emerged from the crowd, a harmonica in hand. “I bet you didn’t know I was in a band . . .”

 

* * *

 

 

Outside Josh managed to catch up with Skye, and when he shouted her name she finally stopped. With her back to him, he couldn’t hide his annoyance. “What the hell?”

Skye’s shoulders sagged, and he continued, “I wrote that for you! For you, Skye, no one else. Maybe I couldn’t say it the other day—you caught me off guard—but I’ll say it now. I lo—’’

But before he could get the words out she spun around, took his face in her hands and pulled him down into a long, desperate kiss. Josh was still trying to finish what he had started to say, but now he just let the kiss take over, let his lips say what his voice had had so much trouble saying. When at last Skye released him, he did finish. “I love you,” he said quietly, holding her in his arms protectively, tenderly, afraid she’d run off again and he would never be able to hold her this way again.

“I know,” she said, pursing her lips, trying not to smile. “I just needed to hear you say it.”

“Then I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it. I love you. I love you.”

Skye put a finger to his lips. “Stop talking,” she whispered, and kissed him again, this time softly, again and again. People passing by giggled and commented, but Josh didn’t hear. Josh wasn’t aware of anything except the cool night air and the warm body in his arms. For now, time stood still. And whatever the future held, he was ready for it.

 


End file.
